How to report and pay Capital Gains Tax

Capital Gains Tax is charged on the profit you make when you sell or dispose of certain assets, such as shares or a second home¹. You do not get a bill for it: HMRC expects you to work out what you owe and report it yourself². How you do that depends on what you sold. If you sold UK residential property, you must report and pay within 60 days of completion³. For most other gains, the route is Self Assessment, with tax payable by 31 January after the end of the tax year in which you sold⁴.

Around 500,000 taxpayers are required to report disposals each year, according to the Office of Tax Simplification⁵. That is a large number of people navigating a system with different deadlines, different reporting routes and penalties for getting it wrong.

This guide covers who needs to report, how the 60-day property rule works, how to report other gains through Self Assessment, the real time service, deadlines and penalties, and what records to keep.

Who needs to report Capital Gains Tax

You pay Capital Gains Tax if you made a profit on selling or disposing of certain assets, such as shares or a second home¹. You may also have to pay if you make a profit when you sell property that is not your home, for example a buy to let, business property or inherited property⁷. Capital Gains Tax also applies when you sell anything you inherited⁸.

You only pay tax on profits above your Annual Exempt Amount¹. If your gains are below that threshold and you are not already in Self Assessment, you may not need to report at all.

Some people must report even when no tax is due. If you are not a UK resident, you must report all sales of UK property or land, both residential and non-residential, even if you have no tax to pay². If you are selling property belonging to the estate of someone who has died, you need to include this information when reporting the estate to HMRC³.

If you hold shares or units in an ISA or a pension, there is no Capital Gains Tax payable on them⁶. ISA holdings do not contribute to the capital gains tax annual exempt amount⁹. You pay no income or capital gains tax on ISA investments, and you do not have to declare the ISA on your tax return¹⁰.

UK residential property: report and pay within 60 days

If you sell UK residential property, you must report and pay any Capital Gains Tax within 60 days of completion³. This applies to most sales of UK property on or after 6 April 2020³. The same 60-day deadline applies whether you are a UK resident or not¹¹.

For non-residents, the obligation is wider. You must tell HMRC you have sold the property within 60 days of transferring ownership, even if you have no tax to pay¹¹. And you must report all sales of UK property or land, residential and non-residential, if you are not a UK resident².

The 60-day clock starts from completion, not from exchange of contracts. The deadline for people to report and pay Capital Gains Tax on property they sell is 60 days¹².

This is a separate process from Self Assessment. Even if you already file a tax return, the 60-day report and payment for property is a distinct requirement. You may still need to include the gain on your Self Assessment return as well, but the payment must be made within the 60-day window.

Reporting other gains through Self Assessment

For gains on shares, cryptoassets and other assets that are not UK residential property, the usual route is Self Assessment. If the profit is over the amount HMRC allow, you will register for Self Assessment and file a tax return¹⁴.

If you are not within Self Assessment but the gain, together with your other savings and investment income, exceeds £10,000, you will need to report it¹⁵. If the gain and your other savings and investment income do not exceed £10,000, you can report it by contacting Self Assessment general enquiries or by sending a copy of the chargeable event certificate to Self Assessment, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AS with your National Insurance number¹⁵.

Gains on foreign life insurance policies are reported in the Foreign section of the tax return, under "Other overseas income and gains"¹⁵. If a gain is reported in a Self Assessment tax return, HMRC will calculate the amount of top slicing relief due¹⁵.

If you have foreign income, you usually report it in a Self Assessment tax return¹⁶. If you have savings interest of more than £10,000, you need to tell HMRC how much interest you earned on a Self Assessment tax return¹⁷.

For employee share schemes, the HS287 helpsheet for 2025 to 2026 will help you complete the Capital Gains Tax summary pages of your tax return¹⁸. If your employer does not deduct Income Tax and National Insurance through payroll for non-tax advantaged share schemes, you will need to report these by submitting a Self Assessment tax return¹⁹.

Using the real time Capital Gains Tax service

Gains are normally reported in a self-assessment tax return but, if eligible, you may be able to report them using HMRC's real time Capital Gains Tax service²⁰. This allows you to report and pay without waiting for the Self Assessment cycle.

The real time service is designed for people with simpler affairs who are not already in Self Assessment. It lets you report a gain, work out the tax and pay it in one go. If you use it, you may not need to register for Self Assessment at all, depending on your circumstances.

Eligibility depends on your situation. If you are already within Self Assessment, or if your gains are complex, you will usually need to use the full Self Assessment return instead. The real time service is not available for UK property sales, which have their own 60-day reporting requirement.

Deadlines, payment methods and penalties

The deadline for paying Capital Gains Tax depends on what you sold. For property, it is 60 days from completion³. For other gains reported through Self Assessment, Capital Gains Tax is payable on 31 January after the end of the tax year in which the shares are sold⁴.

You do not get a bill for Capital Gains Tax². You must work out your liability and pay it. Payment methods include online banking, debit or credit card, or direct debit through your HMRC online account.

If you miss a deadline, you get a penalty if you need to send a tax return and you miss the deadline for submitting it or paying your bill¹³. Interest can also be added to late payments.

For penalties related to fraudulent or negligent incorrect statements or declarations, payment must be made within 30 days and interest can be added²¹. If you do not usually send a tax return but need to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge, you need to tell HMRC by 5 October following the tax year you need to pay the tax charge²².

Records to keep and where to get help

You need to keep records if you have to send HMRC a Self Assessment tax return²³. For Capital Gains Tax, you will need a record of the gross proceeds received from the sale of capital assets, the cost of the asset, any improvement costs, and the costs of sale and purchase¹⁴.

If you are self-employed, you must also keep records for business income and outgoings²³. Keeping business and personal finances separate helps you keep records that you or your accountant will need to fill in tax returns each year²⁴.

For free, impartial help, you can contact TaxAid, a charity that provides tax advice¹⁴. MoneyHelper offers free guidance on money matters. The Financial Ombudsman Service can help if you have a complaint about a financial business, though it notes that if you are being compensated for investment or pensions loss, the business will not deduct capital gains tax for you²⁵.

If you are dealing with creditors or debt issues alongside tax problems, organisations such as StepChange offer free debt advice²⁶.